Category Archives: technology

A Follow-up on Recording Students Before Performances

By joy (admin) | Published: 19 April 2010

I don’t know about you, but I have some students who are participating in a spring performance coming up soon!  Last week, I recorded my student Jean playing her recital piece during her lesson (click to read more about recording students as preparation for performances).  Then we spent some time listening and discussing the recording. [...]

Also posted in motivation, private lessons, recitals / performances, settings:, what I'm up to | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Preparing for Student Recitals: Recording!

By joy (admin) | Published: 16 April 2010

Many of us teachers are probably currently preparing our student for spring recitals, so today I thought it might be beneficial to discuss a way of preparing for performances: recording your students playing their pieces, and then listening to the playback together. Benefits of Recording The student practices performing. Playing for a recording device can [...]

Also posted in advanced level, beginners / elementary Level, by student's level, group classes, improving as a teacher, intermediate level, interpretation, practicing, private lessons, recitals / performances, settings: | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

So you want to start a blog?

By joy (admin) | Published: 1 April 2010

Today, I thought I’d share a little bit about my experiences as a blogger.  I don’t claim to be an expert by any means, but I would like to share what I have learned over the past year! Considerations before starting your own blog: Determine your audience. Who are you writing for — your students? [...]

Also posted in improving as a teacher | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Celebrating One Year!

By joy (admin) | Published: 15 March 2010

After browsing through the colorinmypiano.com archives and — alas! — it seems that we’ve missed our own anniversary! Here’s a rundown of the history of the colorinmypiano.com blog: It was on February 28, 2009 that I first conceived of this blog and wrote my first post: a welcome and brief statement of purpose.  I found my [...]

Also posted in beginners / elementary Level, by student's level, improving as a teacher, other resources, printables, private lessons, settings:, what I'm up to | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

New Facebook integration

By joy (admin) | Published: 22 February 2010

Exciting news: you can now follow the Color In My Piano blog via Facebook!  Click the new button on the left, Find Us On Facebook, to view our page on Facebook.  Become a fan and receive blog updates right in your Facebook news feed! In addition, now when you leave comments on posts at colorinmypiano.com, [...]

Also posted in what I'm up to | Tagged | Leave a comment

Free New Age Piano mp3s

By joy (admin) | Published: 28 January 2010

I recently came across an interesting site containing free mp3s of new age solo piano music.  What a great resource to pass on to my piano students!  It’s important for students to listen to a wide variety of music, but often they are only exposed to pop music.  New age piano music is bound to [...]

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Keyboards vs. Acoustic Pianos

By joy (admin) | Published: 26 January 2010

Check out these pictures at dvice.com, featuring modern keyboard designs by Yamaha!  I particularly like the one shown in the screenshot at right. Would I ever buy a keyboard such as this?  No, probably not.  If I had the money to spend, I’d buy an acoustic piano, not a keyboard.  Acoustic pianos are still far [...]

Also posted in improving as a teacher, technique, what I'm up to | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Practicing for juries…

By joy (admin) | Published: 8 December 2009

The end of the semester at college is near!  I’m been working hard on my piano pieces for juries (the end-of-the-semester for music majors).  Take a listen: Visit my YouTube channel by clicking here.

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YouTube: Jammin’ on a Giant Piano

By joy (admin) | Published: 6 October 2009

How many of us piano teachers (and students) would love to have one of THESE in our pianos studios?!  The video below shows a couple of young professional foot piano players playing/dancing on a giant foot piano: Want to buy one?  They do indeed sell them — for just $250,000 apiece.   Start saving!!

Also posted in humor, resources / links | Tagged | Leave a comment

Resources @ makingmusicfun.net

By joy (admin) | Published: 18 September 2009

Have you seen makingmusicfun.net yet?  This site is full of free resources for both teachers and students.  All the materials available at Making Music Fun have super-cute graphics in an “under the sea” theme. For teachers: Sheet music (both arranged and unarranged, organized by level) Composer worksheets Music achievement certificates Practice charts Manuscript paper Intervals [...]

Also posted in beginners / elementary Level, intermediate level, music theory, resources / links | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Closer Look at MuseScore: FREE music notation software

By joy (admin) | Published: 31 August 2009

Move over, Finale and Sibelius!  There’s somebody new in town.  MuseScore is a music notation software available FREE online for anyone to download.  After doing a brief test drive last spring (mentioned here), I decided to take a closer look now that it’s available for Mac users. I’ve been a faithful Finale user since 2005, [...]

Also posted in composition, improving as a teacher, resources / links, what I'm up to | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments
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